A New Addition
by Paite-chan
Summary: Finally, as the noise died down, they all looked at Jennifer, who was at the time looking at them in a curious way. Succumbing to the acceptance of the circumstance, Max then proclaimed: “Kids, meet our new addition.”BenOC .ON HIATUS.
1. Prologue

THWACK!

The hideous sound echoed around the room, making the hearts of the class rush suddenly. While the other students tried to put down the "hair-standing" feeling, it was known that the source of the horrible noise apparently was the effect of a grouchy, semi-angry teacher slamming a ruler into her desk. She rubbed her temples; as if she had something better to do than teach small, stubborn brats in an enclosed classroom.

"Class, I have an announcement." She said sternly, straightening her posture to enforce her "all-powerful" position. "Apparently, we have a new student that will be joining us this semester."

A familiar face in the crowd led out a big yawn. Yes, the familiar face was no other than the rambunctious Ben Tennyson, who appeared to be in a bored state. _Tell me something I don't know_, he thought drowsily. The educator calmly took no more than a small scroll of paper from her desk, examining it thoroughly with her beady eyes shifting from the top to the bottom.

"Ah, yes. Class, I would like to introduce you to our new addition, Ms. Jennifer Decada." She said monotonously, obviously thinking that this was a complete waste of time. At the exact same time, a young girl entered the classroom, stumbling on a crack in the floor. The whole class laughed as her books spilled across the checkered floor, with she picking them up hurriedly; her face flushing furiously. Ben raised an eyebrow at the class, feeling rather uncomfortable at the sight. Being a hero and all, seeing someone like her being laughed at made him feel at bit angry at the class.

"Ugh, would you guys quit it already!" he cried, not withstanding the building frustration within himself. It seemed as if they quieted down a bit, but there were still some who were laughing.

"Ah, yes Mr. Tennyson. Back to my announcement; would any of you care to show this young lady around the school campus?" inquired the teacher. None bothered to raise a hand.

"Then it is settled. Ms. Decada, you will have to explore the school yourself." She continued, looking stonily at the poor girl. "You will be seated at the back. Now, back to our lesson…"

Making her way towards her seat, a flash of sunlight bounced on her bracelet causing Ben's attention to shift. He analyzed her bracelet carefully; finding the design rather strange… it somehow resembled the Omnitrix in a more conventional way, causing his suspicions to rise. But then again, it was probably a new fashion statement. He took no further notice of it, but the design disturbed his thoughts occasionally. He spotted a nearby classmate of his trying to start a conversation with her.

"Hey! It's nice to meet you, Jen." He spoke casually, playfully leaning near her. He was apparently one of the more popular students, finding the girl a bit attractive. "I'm Brad. Care to come over for a party at my house this Saturday?"

Most of the students gasped at the boy's sudden statement. He wouldn't normally invite anyone to come over! Her first day of school, and she was already hated by one-half of the class. Yet, Jennifer's reaction was even more surprising. Looking away quickly, she hid behind her pile of books, not bothering to say even one word. He was left dumbfounded, deciding to never ask the girl for an invitation ever again.

DRIIIIIIINNG!!

The class sighed as they heard the recess bell. Finally, first period has ended! The class gathered into a frenzied mob as they stormed out the room, not bothering to hear the announcement about the lesson. Ben stretched his arms out and cried out in thanksgiving, finally glad to have a break. Yet, shortly before he left the room, another classmate of his approached him shortly

"Hey Ben, have you noticed something _strange_ about the new girl?" he asked. Ben shrugged, hoping that it had nothing to do with Brad or her introduction.

"Dunno. What is it, anyway?" he asked dazedly. The boring lecture seemingly numbed down his reflexes.

"Have you noticed that she looks like you?" he said even more astonished. "I mean, from the hair to the face… and she also looks a bit fragile… also, she has such a weird bracelet!"

"Wait a sec… she _looks_ like me?!"

"Yeah! Haven't you noticed? All you have to do is change your eye color to brown and you'd practically be twins!" At this point, he grabbed Ben's shoulder aggressively.

"You're crazy! Sure, she has a weird bracelet, but looking like me? No way!" he retorted, brushing off his friend's hand off his shoulder.

"Fine, think what you will, but I'm not the only one who noticed that. Almost all of the class thinks that you look like her."

"Who said so?"

Just then, the two of them spotted Jennifer walking across the hallway, head bowed down embarrassedly. A group of girls happened to pass by her, their eyes widening slightly.

"Hey, isn't that Tennyson? Wait, why's he in a blouse…"

Ben glared daggers at his friend who was at that point beaming an "I-told-you-so" grin.

"Okay, fine! We look the same! I get it!" he cried irritatedly.

"I'm glad that you've met my point."

Walking down the dense, crowded hallway was definitely no walk in the park. Sometimes it feels as if you had to use a manual on how to maneuver yourself around the noisy crowd that could probably stomp your toe with a strong foot or could push you on the floor any minute. It was also a known fact that you could possibly be lost in it, the chances being one in two. It would also be impossible to find someone you actually knew in the crowd, so that's why it was considered a miracle when Ben found his twin cousin Gwen in the crowd (who was apparently on the verge of strangling someone any minute). Leaving his friend, he went up to his cousin he most loathed/liked.

"You know, you owe me _big time_ for this." She grumbled, taking a grudging look at the school. Ben led out a mischievous grin.

"Yeah, yeah… but then again, it gives me more time to bug you! Plus, it's not like I _wanted_ you to transfer here." He replied, trying his best to sound innocent.

"Hey…" Gwen's face began to look blank as she spotted a figure walking along the hallway, her expression mildly shocked.

"Hello? Earth to Gwen?" said Ben, waving his hand uncontrollably in front of her face. Gwen snapped out of the trance, her face returning to its normality.

"That was weird." She stated suddenly.

"What was weird?" Ben asked curiously.

"I thought I saw you walking around in a blouse."

"AAARGH!" Ben suddenly cried out in exasperation covering his head briefly. "For the last time, _that's not me_! That's the new girl, Jennifer!"

"Jennifer, is it? Wow, now **I** have an excuse to bother you."

Ben glared. He had a feeling that she would never, _ever_ let him forget this. His vengeful thoughts were drowned out by another flash of her bracelet.

Why did it seem so… _odd_?

* * *

Okay, I have decided to place the Author's notes at the bottom. I'll be typing them here when I have some important updates or announcements to place. Also, if there is a grammatical error in it, let me know. This is the same when there's something wrong with the plot, since I haven't been watching many Ben 10 episodes lately. :P

Keep in touch!

-Paite


	2. Chapter One: Seeing Double?

After a tiring school day, it is a pleasure to see your ride home; especially if you know that something exciting is in store. And for a boy like Ben Tennyson, this is definitely no exception. Grandpa Max honked the Rust Bucket's horn twice upon seeing his beloved grandson, which in turn made Ben joyfully wave his arm at him. Gwen at that moment appeared as she left the school building, and trailed Ben's footsteps. As the two kids entered the RV, Ben excitedly began to speak, his voice near the brink of cracking with excitement.

"So Grandpa, anything happening today?" he inquired. The RV's doors shut and Max's face started to turn serious.

"I'm afraid so. There's a strong trace of alien activity going on in the city, and the news reports confirm it. I'm sending you there." Ben smiled at the thought of alien activity, it being his somewhat stress-reliever. "Oh yeah!" he cried, punching the air with a jolt of crackling energy. Gwen rolled her eyes at the sight. It was going to be a long day. Resting her head on the table, she watched the scenes that appeared on the small television; her breath temporarily shortened as a familiar figure flashed across the screen.

"Whoa!" she cried "Ben, check this out!"

"What?" Ben asked, shifting his head in all directions in search for action.

"On the screen, dweeb!" she impatiently cried out, jerking Ben's head towards the screen. Ben examined the chaotic scene vigilantly, but in the end was not impressed a bit by it. "What?" he repeated.

"Didn't you see her? She was there a while ago!"

"Who's she?" he asked curiously. Gwen felt a sudden urge to slap her head at her cousin's ignorance.

"The female heatblast!"

At that statement, Ben started to doubt his cousin and Grandpa Max's face grew pale. _It is probably nothing_, he thought reassuringly, _Probably nothing_. Ben cocked his head steadily to the side, raising his eyebrow at his cousin's outrageous statement.

"What do you mean?"

"She was just like heatblast, but her figure was more feminine, more physique, more…"

"Uh-huh. A female heatblast. What would she be doing here on Earth?" he asked coldly.

"Who knows! She probably wants to help, or, or _something_!" she cried, stressing her point. Ben walked towards the mini-telly and watched as green aliens began to disrupt the peace, with no sign whatsoever of the so-called "girl heatblast". He rolled his eyes slightly.

"I don't see anything." He stated boldly. Heading towards his seat again, he looked skeptically at his cousin. "Are you feeling okay, Gwen?"

"Yes I do! Why don't you believe me?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation kids, but we're here." Max stated firmly. Ben and Gwen looked outside the window, therefore confirming it. They spotted three humongous mutated aliens, slam-banging the whole city as if it were their playground; big, green, and _ugly_. Ben jumped out of the car excitedly, positioning his hand near the Omnitrix.

"This is nothing Heatblast shouldn't handle." He stated, slamming his hand on the alien watch. Yet, for some funny reason, he remembered Gwen's claims of the female version of heatblast. Shrugging it over, he continued his transformation to the flaming pyronite. _It's go time_, he thought gladly. Running towards the scene, he readied his hands as he blasted the aliens with a large ball of fire. The monsters were blown away for a while, yet were on their feet in an instant. Ben was surprised by this, but still attacked.

The fight took a while. The monsters were more powerful than they seemed, and once in a while surprised (and irritated) Ben with their moves. He then, in his frustration, began to charge at them, but was completely caught off-guard as one of the monsters spat green ooze at him. The substance was a great adhesive; Ben's flameball- shooting hands were bound perfectly to his body. He tried his best to free himself from the icky prison, but it was no use; it left him tied-down to the floor like a sitting duck. As he tried further, the aliens began to surround him about to give him the beating of a lifetime. Until…

"Outta my way!"

A fierce voice threateningly yelled at him, which order's he quickly complied with by rolling away. For some reason, the command was compelling… but then again, it was a life and death situation, right? He then looked on as a large flameball exploded onto the aliens he was battling. His heart skipped a beat at the attack. Could that ball of fire come from Gwen's alien?

As the green aliens ran away from the spot, he confirmed that his answer was correct. Another flaming alien stepped out of the smoke the fireball generated, having a woman's figure and fire on her head resembling a flaming up do'. Her eyes were shaped like almonds, and they glowered fiercely at Ben. For some reason, Ben had a feeling that this encounter wasn't going to be a good one. Her eyes narrowed once again at her fellow pyronite, with her attitude as hot-headed as her looks.

"You were in my way. I could've defeated those monsters by myself if you hadn't come!" She yelled. Simultaneously, she threw a blue fireball at him, burning away his prison. Ben stood up and dusted himself, feeling bitter towards her.

"Your way?! I was here first! Those aliens were supposed to have their butts kicked by me!" he retorted angrily. She glared at him once more with the vehemence of a snorting bull.

"Oh yeah? Then if you were supposed to defeat them, how did you get all tangled up in that film of slime? You could've been killed if I hadn't thought of saving you!"

"I could've gotten out of there myself even without your help! I was just distracted by your loud voice!"

The verbal battle took a long while for it to finish, and was only ended when Gwen and Grandpa Max started to look for the missing hero. At the sound of their voices, the "female heatblast" (as Gwen so called it) jolted to another direction, leaving the conversation unended. As the two spotted the flaming hero, Gwen sprinted towards her cousin, eager to know about something.

"So, did you see her?" Gwen asked hurriedly. At the exact same moment, Ben's Omnitrix discharged, returning him to his human form. He grimaced slightly at the encounter.

"Yes, I did. But believe me, she isn't exactly a ball of sunshine." He stated, looking at the direction the alien escaped to. Grandpa Max then called the kids into the RV, with he seeming as if he was in a hurry. As they began to leave the city, Ben pondered a bit at the unpleasant encounter.

Where did she come from?

* * *

You don't see any female heatblasts very often, don't you?

That's the end of the first chapter. If something doesn't seem right about it, please tell me so I could get my facts straight. (to tell you the truth, there were some parts of the chapter which I wasn't satisfied with). Thank you.

- Paite


	3. Chapter Two: The Science Project

The sun dawned slowly as the three heroes rode away in the RV, each of them watching the sun lose its vitality. The orange glimmered into the sky for a short while, and then completely disappeared as the black sky wiped it all out. The two youngsters were beginning to feel sleepy; partially from the action that happened a while ago, and partially from the many activities that happened in school. Gwendolyn, along with her cousin, rested their heads on the table in front of them, but seized an opportunity to gloat at her imminent success.

"I told you so…" she said tiredly, with her head resting on one arm and her other hand pointing at Ben. Her hand then lazily returned to its position, waiting for its opponent's reaction.

"I get it… but can't we talk about it later? Too tired…" he retorted, moving around for a comfortable position. Max looked at the front mirror, catching a glimpse of the sleeping pre-teens. He then made a small smile at the cute sight, and proceeded to watch the road as they left.

The next day…

"Dear children, Science is a wonderful subject!" cried the over-enthusiastic science teacher. Those present in the classroom grumbled in response, not seeing the educator's point. She was still perky, however, not minding the shortcomings. Ben was already in REM sleep, which was proved further by the presence of saliva running down his cheek.

"For today's project, I have decided that all of you will have partners who will assist you. Isn't that great?" the teacher continued. This made the class lighten up a bit, yet it still didn't budge the sleeping Ben.

"Choose your partners, NOW!"

The class was in a flurry of excitement. Others were in a hurry to be partners with populars, some tried to convince the braniacs that they needed their assistance, and the rest were chasing after the class president (the vice-president didn't get much love). After the flurried frenzy of people looking for decent partners, the educator in front of them instructed the class to settle down for an evaluation.

"Now, who doesn't have a partner?" she asked in a weird sing-song voice. No one raised a hand at first.

"Is that so? Then let us continue with the project…"

A hand interfered with the teacher's announcement as it slowly straightened up. She spotted the hand quickly, a bit surprised by the gesture.

"Why Miss Decada, you don't have a partner?" the teacher reacted, taken aback by this. The little girl nodded shyly in agreement. "Well then, we should then find you a partner! It wouldn't be much fun if you don't have a partner!" The teacher's eyes began to shift about the room, searching for a suitable partner that she could pair the girl up with. Someone understanding, someone very active in class, someone joyful, enlightening, charming…

"BENJAMIN!"

The soundly sleeping boy suddenly jolted up from his seat, a bit surprised by the call. "Huh? Who? What? Where?" he cried dazedly, shifting his head in all directions as the class laughed.

"I'm glad you volunteered. You will be Miss Decada's project partner for the whole se-mes-terrrr…" the teacher sang, twirling about in a fairy-like fashion.

"Who?" Ben looked around the room, spotting his look-alike bowing her head down, cheeks flushed. What had just happened?

"Now that we've got all of you paired up, I would like to announce that this will be 30 percent of your grade! Cooperation is very much advised if you want a passing grade!" the teacher announced, with her voice still upbeat and perky. The class grumbled again at their misfortune, wondering when the torture would end. The school bell rang to the class' relief, glad knowing that the day was finally over.

"Dismi-issed!" she sang again, which was starting to be irritating. Ben was still confused with what had just happened just a second ago, and began to ask his classmates questions about the project.

* * *

"And now we have to make a full-detailed report on the Continental Drift Theory if we don't want to get a failing grade!" Ben whined, expressing his contempt. Gwen was listening to his cousin's every word, seemingly albeit bored about it.

"Don't be such a baby! The Continental Drift theory is easy as pie." Gwen retorted, seeing no urgency in the situation. Ben frowned.

"For you! I'm not the super-geek here."

"Hey, at least I learned something!"

"Okay, okay dweeb, whatever! But you have got to help me with this!"

"Oh, come on… don't tell me that you can't even make a simple report!"

"No! Uh… yes! I don't know!"

"Come on… hey, didn't you tell me that you have a partner here? Ask your partner!"

"That would've been a good idea if there wasn't a slight complication."

"What?"

Ben searched the crowd, his eyes shifting at different places for a short period of time. Gwen waited impatiently, having a feeling that her cousin's concern was no more than another one of overreactions and nothing else. Finally, after a while, he found the person he was talking about.

"There! There she is!" he cried, pointing his finger at the girl. Gwen's eyes widened shortly, recognizing the girl from last time.

"Your clone? Your clone is your partner? What's so bad about that?"

"If you only knew her, you'd understand!" Ben retorted, with his face growing serious.

"Oh, and do you know her?" Gwen said sarcastically. Ben was flabbergasted. "Look, you won't know the girl until you get to know her. Why don't you try visiting her? Both of your grades are on the line, anyway." Ben didn't reply this time, afraid of being outspoken again. Gwen then began to push him towards the girl, getting him a bit agitated.

"Hey! Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting you to talk with her, that's what!"

Ben struggled fiercely as he tried to stop his cousin from pushing him. What was with him talking to her anyway, especially since she'd probably never reply? Why is this happening to him? How'd he get into this mess? Why did he…

All those thoughts eventually went down the drain as he realized that he was all ready in front of the girl. Talk about fast.

"Hey." He said, making a sheepish smile due to the sudden situation. He was definitely gonna get back at Gwen for this. The girl backed away once more as he predicted, with her face beginning to flush. Why was she scared of him anyway? What was so scary about him?

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you; I promise. I just wanted to talk about the science project." he cried, extending is arm to the girl. The girl seemed to have stopped in her tracks, looking at him silently. Ben continued speaking.

"Well, since we're gonna make a report on the… um, Continental Drift theory I was just wondering, you know, if we could do the research at your house? You know, since you're new and all and I'm not and… I dunno, probably get to know each other…?" She stared at him silently for a long time, and nodded shyly in agreement.

"Great! I guess I'll be meeting you at your place." he said casually, beginning to gain confidence in his speaking skills. He smiled softly and turned around, pausing for a moment. He then faced her again, with slight-embarrassment present on his face. "Uh… so… where is your place?"

She handed him a piece of paper with her address scribbled on it, still not saying a word. Ben said his thanks as he took the paper, and then headed towards his cousin.

"Well that wasn't so bad, wasn't it?" Gwen said, with a hint of amusement on her face.

"Yeah, yeah… don't rub it in!"

"Hey, why the long face? Who knows? She might be a great girl." Gwen said playfully, wrapping her arm around her twin cousin's shoulders. He made a small smile.

"I guess you may have a point. But just this once."

* * *

Right now, I will be answering the questions written in the reviews:

To GreenAwesomeness: Jen is neither. The whole "looking-like-Ben" thing was kinda an idea that just jumped into my head. I hope this solves your question!

To Eyeguy3: Not really. The female version of heatblast came into my mind one day when I watched heatblast, then POW! I began picturing heatblast as a woman. I hope this solves your question! Oh, and thanks for the suggestion!

A big thanks to all who reviewed. I hope this chapter was okay. Please tell me if anything needs sprucing up. Thanks!

- Paite


	4. Chapter Three: Two Mysteries

"O... M... G."

That was all that Ben could say upon seeing the huge mansion in front of him. It reminded him very much of those large European manors he'd see on TV; you know, all elegant and classy? _This isn't right. This couldn't be Jen's house_, he thought all the while double-checking the paper. Who knew that someone as shy as her lived in something as cool as this? Still in a daze, he walked towards the elegantly designed doorbell and pressed it. After the lovely chime sound that accompanied it, Ben pressed it some more, just for kicks.

"Why, hello there!" a sweet voice greeted. Ben froze before he rang the doorbell once more, half-expecting the figure to yell at him. Yet, for some reason, it didn't.

"Uh, hello." He replied, getting out of his shocked state. Gathering the courage to look at the figure, he was relieved to see a young lady, with long brown hair tied firmly at the back and brown eyes covered with oval eyeglasses. Not so intimidating, now wasn't it?

"What brings you hear, dear?" she inquired, her voice as sweet as ever. Ben looked her in the eyes.

"Uh, I'm Jennifer's project partner, and we were going to do some research here." He said, still a bit nervous.

"Oh! Yes, Jennifer told me about that. But before you start your research; do you want to explore the house?" Ben nodded slowly, still in a bad daze. The woman led him inside the mansion, all the while smiling at him. "You could look at anything, but be careful; you might get hurt. Also, if there's something you want to know about, just ask."

Ben decided to explore the mansion for a while, seeing it as a chance opportunity. He noticed that there were many rooms; some interesting, some not. Once in a while, he would discover different secret rooms, all which cured his school boredom.

"Whoa… wait until Gwen hears this! She'd be _so_ jealous…" he thought tastily, imagining the look on his cousin's face as he spread the news.

After exploring, he got bored for a while and began to retrace his steps. As he neared the main entrance (the place where he entered), he discovered yet another room. It was a small room, sheltering a small desk with a typewriter on it. Beside the desk was a bookshelf, with books written by some person named Stephanie Sanchez. Ben leafed through one of the books, and after a while, decided to go back to the main entrance. The lady then greeted him warmly, although she seemed to be busy baking cookies.

"Cookie?" the woman asked gently, handing Ben a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie.

"Uh… sure, thanks!" he replied, accepting it. "So… where is Jen?"

"She's out in the garden, reading." The lady replied, preparing the batch of freshly-baked cookies. Then, for some reason, her expression shifted to a secretive one, shifting her head as if someone else was watching. She leaned towards Ben's left ear, whispering this softly. "I'm really glad that you took time to visit her. Jennifer normally doesn't have people coming over to see her."

"O-kay…" he replied, feeling a bit pressured at the statement. When the woman leaned back again, he proceeded to head towards the garden, waving his hand at the woman. "Thanks Ms. Decada!"

"It's Ms. Cruz!" she replied joyfully. "Carmen Cruz!"

Upon entering the garden, he noticed that it was grand in its entire splendor; truly fitting for the mansion. With a fountain to boot, the garden was practically flawless. Yet, the garden wasn't his priority. His priority now was to find Jen. Interestingly enough, he found her reading on the stairs, donned in what seemed like a white camisole and brown sandals. Ben walked behind her quietly, and looked over her shoulder just enough to read the page. Oddly enough, it was one of the books written by Stephanie Sanchez.

"_Don't be afraid to let your light shine. From the day you were born, you were made to shine brightly, even brighter everyday! Don't let the events in the past define you. We are not defined by our past, but more likely, we define our future. You could still be as bright as you always were. Don't be afraid to let your light shine._"

Jennifer gasped as she heard Ben's voice read the sentence she was at. Quickly, she shut the book and began to cover her face with it; obviously embarrassed about the incident.

"No, it's okay! That's fine! You don't have to stop reading! It's cool!" Ben reassured. Boy, was he in trouble! Yet slowly, Jennifer began to look up from the book little by little; with her face growing less and less flushed. When a decent angle of her face was shown, Ben took a deep breath as he tried to think about what he was going to say next. His mind went blank for a few moments, until he spotted the bracelet again. _Heh, it's better than nothing_.

"That bracelet… where'd you get it?" he inquired. At that statement, Jennifer uncurled herself slowly… touching her bracelet in a tense manner. It seemed as if the subject of her bracelet troubled her, so he decided to not press the matter further. He then straightened himself up, wanting to be someplace else since the garden was already filled with tension.

"So… uh, do you wanna research now?" he asked, with his voice a bit shaken. _Wow, I sound like Gwen_, he thought briefly, but cut back on his thoughts to stop increasing the tension any further. He spotted her nod a little, and proceeded to go to someplace. Ben followed her, moreover due to not knowing where she was going. They arrived at a white door which Ben noticed as the locked room that he wasn't able to explore. Jennifer produced a key from her pocket, and unlocked the door.

Later…

_Tack, tack, tack_…

The computer keys sounded loudly as her fragile yet versatile fingers glided on the keyboard. Ben decided to look around her room for a while, upon waiting for more of the search results. Apparently, he thought that it was yet another opportunity to take up.

The room was pure white: from the floor, to the ceiling, to the bed. The only specks of color found were the odds and ends on the shelves, which were always in perfect order. He headed towards the shelves (which was obviously the only interesting place in the room) and decided to search them for anything unusual or interesting. There were some handicrafts, possibly projects made in Jen's old school; fluffy stuffed toys, stuff boxes and a picture frame. Ben observed the picture inserted into it further, a bit puzzled by it.

The picture was of a man and a woman, staring coldly at him with fierce, piercing eyes. They weren't even close to each other in the frame… they just looked like officemates focused on their business. Moreover, there was no child with them. This made him wonder. Why would Jennifer keep a picture of two cold-hearted people in her room?

"Hey, are these your parents?" he asked curiously. Jennifer then abruptly stopped typing, still facing the computer. Ben stopped his breathing, having a feeling that he had offended her with the statement. He breathed again when Jennifer continued typing after the long pause, not saying a word.

"Uh, sure…"he replied, a bit relieved to see that she didn't zone out like others would normally do at a statement like that. Just then, the woman entered Jen's room slowly, with her smiling face poking out the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt your research, sweetie, but your little friend's ride is here." she said sweetly. Ben then briefly looked at the girl, whose shy face was looking at the both of them.

"I guess… I have to go. Bye, Jen." He said, walking slowly away from her. He peeked at her occasionally, wondering what secrets the girl was hiding.

* * *

"So, how was your visit to Jen's place?" Gwendolyn asked her cousin curiously. The boy was resting his feet at one of the Rust Bucket's tables, seemingly thinking intensely about something.

"What?" he asked, with his head abruptly knocked out of the clouds.

"Don't tell me you haven't been listening to a word I was saying! I was asking you about the visit." She cried, a bit irritated by her cousin's lack of attention.

"Oh, you mean that! Well, it was kinda… strange. She was always so quiet, though. She didn't say anything; not a single word. She was so quiet that you'd almost think she was mute." Gwen thought about her cousin's description for a while, with her head coming up with a theory.

"Hey, do you think that she could just be a snob?" she asked curiously, stating her theory loudly. Ben shook his head.

"No, it was something else. I think she's hiding something, but I just don't know what."

"INCOMING!" Grandpa Max yelled as he turned the RV sharply in a curve. A huge meteor suddenly crashed beside them, causing a big shake in the ground. Another one shot down at a more remote place, yet the damage was still devastating. Max stopped the engine shortly as Ben ran outside to change into alien form.

"Ben, be careful!" he cried, hoping that his grandson would be safe. Ben smiled back at him.

"Don't worry Grandpa, Fourarms could handle this perfectly!"

After dialing the watch, he slammed it with full force and he transformed into the four-armed tetramand. "It's butt-kicking time!" he cried out. Running towards the source of the meteors, he threw those directed at him back, all the while dodging the others. The meteors appeared to come from one of the commercial buildings, leading him to the rooftop via elevator. After a weird experience while going up, he finally found the criminal: a metal guy, with a metal face, and a black robe.

"So you're the guy who's causing all the trouble!" Ben cried. The metal man just smirked at him.

"Correct. Yet unfortunately, you're in my way." He replied, sending a meteor straight for him. Ben caught the meteor with some difficulty, yet threw it towards the metal man with ease. Yet suddenly, as the meteor almost met his face, the man made it stop clairvoyantly, sending it towards Ben with ten times the force of before. Ben was caught off-guard at the act, and was hit off the building. Luckily, he was able to grasp its edge before plummeting into certain doom. The man then walked over to him at the edge, with the intention of ending his life.

"For that grave interference, I will end your short life."

He summoned yet another large meteor, making it float above Ben's head. "Any last words?" the man asked sadistically.

"He doesn't, but I do!"

From out of the blue, a creature pounced on the metal man, and the meteor careened into another remote area. Ben's grip was starting to falter, even though he practically had four arms to cling to. He tried once more to get up the building. He jumped towards the roof, yet he was unable to reach for the edge this time; resulting to him falling to his death. Ben screamed as he fell, praying for some miracle to happen. His prayer was answered as a pair of arms… no, **two** pairs of arms grabbed him from above.

"Gotcha!"

Ben felt himself being pulled up, and finally, felt his feet on the roof. Another surprise awaited him as he found his rescuer… it was another fourarms! Yet, just like his last encounter, the alien was female yet again.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. Ben was still in shock when she asked him, which shown as he began to stare at her weirdly. The female tetramand raised two brows up, wondering what was wrong with the other. As Ben snapped out of his trance, he rubbed his head with one arm dizzily.

"Am I seeing a pattern here?" he stated, recounting his encounter with the female heatblast. Another meteor headed straight for the two of them, just almost cutting in between them. The two of them found the metal man slightly unconscious, with the meteor as a signal that he was not ready to give up just yet. The female tetramand looked at Ben hurriedly, and he had a feeling that something good was in store.

"No time to talk. Care to kick butt with me?" she asked playfully, in which Ben fully complied.

"Sure!"

There they went; bashing the metallic man with strong punches and powerful throws. The most important rule: don't let him cast anymore meteors (or anything else, for that fact). Ben jabbed the guy with a loud thud, while the other fourarms bounced him back with her tough torso. All the attacks resulted in the guy, beaten from head to toe (but didn't really show since he was made out of metal), slamming down the center of the building. The two tetramands circled the guy, preparing to pounce on him lest he try another one of his tricks. The man slowly stood up, signaling the two to beat him again. Yet, a blast of light kept them to go no nearer than two steps; and the man began to levitate in the air.

"I have no time to deal with you mortals. For now, my time is precious if I am to fulfill my role." And in a flash, Mr. Metal was gone.

The two fighters got up on their feet, wondering about what the criminal could have meant by his words. Just then…

"Ben! Ben, where are you?"

"Hey dweeb, get your butt down here or I'll get it down myself!"

Ben looked at the direction where the voices were coming from. After a while, he heard footsteps coming towards the roof… and BAM! The door slammed open and Gwen and Grandpa Max ran to the roof, glad to see that he was okay. Yet, that didn't stop Gwen from punching him soundly on the arm, though.

"Ow! What was that for?" Ben whined.

"For almost giving us a heart attack! We almost thought that you were gonna fall off that building!" At the exact same moment, the Omnitrix discharged and he was back to normal. He then looked behind his back hurriedly, a bit disappointed.

"Hey, where is she?" he asked worriedly, searching the roof for the female tetramand.

"Who's she?" Gwen asked, thinking that her cousin was overreacting again. He shifted his head around the roof once again, and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders strongly, whispering.

"Remember the girl heatblast from before? There was another girl alien. I just don't know where she came from." Gwen escaped from her cousin's grip, thinking about the occurrences that happened lately.

"You might be on to something for once, dweeb. But before we solve this mystery, let's go home. My head's starting to spin."

"But she might've gone miles from here by now! We can't let her escape!"

Just then, Grandpa Max interfered. "Gwen's right. You guys have to go home now to recharge. We'll just have to deal with this tomorrow."

"But…" Ben stuttered.

"No 'but's'!" Grandpa Max stated firmly, making sure that his was the final word. Ben slumped down on his seat, disappointed that they could not solve the case at this point. He looked through the window angrily, but could've sworn that he saw a flash of red light somewhere.

* * *

Hey guys, just wanted to clear up some things:

-Make sure to keep a close eye on the metal guy. Though he was just another OC, I have something in store for him.

-The Stephanie Sanchez thing… Uh, just some random thing that popped into my head.

-Also, when Ben says "OMG" in the first part, he says the initials, not the words. If he said the whole phrase, I could have written in words.

I have a feeling that the whole "mystery" part was a bit rushed. Please comment if there's anything "off" about the story!

Paite


	5. Chapter Four: Blowing It

"We should've looked for her when we had the chance!" Ben cried grumpily, probably from the fact that their Math teacher announced that they had a quiz on Thursday. Gwen rubbed her eye as she listened to her jerky cousin's rants, a bit sleepy from… something.

"Rash, are we? You're short-circuiting again, dweeb." She led a big yawn after her sentence, one that did not please Ben so much. "Besides, if she's a good guy then we don't have much to worry about. We have plenty of time to cook up a plan to this mystery, you'll see."

"What if she'd already gone back to outer space? We could've blown our chance!"

"Yeah, but if a girl alien keeps on helping you out like that, then it's possible that another girl alien could help you the next time Grandpa and I couldn't…" Gwen suddenly paused at that sentence and looked at her cousin. They both had a feeling that they had the same thoughts.

"ANOTHER GIRL ALIEN!" the two cousins cried, confirming their thoughts. Suddenly, the stagnant energy around them seemed to move on again and the mood turned more exciting.

"That's it! The next time you get into a fight with… whatever, we could catch the next alien in the act! You could get her to tell you her business here!" cried Gwen, blurting out her thoughts as an idea began to brew inside her mind. Ben nodded swiftly, with a large grin plastered on his face; yet was replaced with a frown at a glum thought.

"Let's just hope we don't run into Ms. Hothead. That would be _ugly_." He spoke grimly. Gwen was almost near jumping in excitement.

"Who knows, maybe those aliens actually know each other. We could have a whole team of aliens who could help us save the entire planet!" Gwen's ambitious side subconsciously began to slowly reveal itself at this statement, yet Ben did not care less about it; his mind was focused on more trivial matters.

"Yeah, but it'll be a bunch of **girl** aliens in the team." Ben said remorsefully, which in turn insulted Gwen furiously. She began to narrow her eyes at her cousin.

"Ben Tennyson, you are the most _sexist_, most irritating…" Yet, Gwen's rants were interrupted as the two cousins spotted two particularly unfriendly faces in the crowd. **Cash and JT**.

Yes, it was ever such unfortunate to stumble upon the two elite bullies; but it was even more unfortunate to stumble upon them doing one of their horrid acts of torture. The cousins noticed that the two were cornering a helpless victim, with the person just shivering in his/her tracks. Ben, as usual, made the first move.

"What are you doing?" he asked coldly, a bit angered that the two haven't learned their lesson on picking on kids. The two automatically turned about in fear, knowing that the alien hero could rip them to shreds in record time with one of his aliens.

"Uh… nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Cash responded briefly, yet secretly secured his grip on the victim's collar firmly. A small choke was heard behind the two bullies, and Ben's looked turned skeptical.

"Who's the kid you're bullying now, Cash?" Ben demanded. The tense scene progressed into one of shock as Cash yanked the victim towards him, revealing the kid.

"It wasn't my fault! This klutz knocked me down the stairs!" the dark boy cried, shaking the figure rapidly to emphasize his point. At that moment, Ben and the figure looked eye to eye at the point, with both realizing who the other was. The victim was none other than his counterpart, Ms. Jennifer Decada. For a second, Ben felt a bit weird about defending the silent student.

"It was probably an accident! She's just a defenseless little girl!" Ben said impulsively, not thinking about those words. Yet Gwen, who was watching the scene, readily caught the flaw in his speech.

"Ben! She's right in front of you!" Gwen cried, yet Ben didn't take notice. He was too preoccupied with the whole of the situation.

"Listen, hand over the girl and nothing bad will happen, okay?" Ben spoke, with a deadly expression in his eyes. The two bullies eagerly consented, and ran away before anything else could happen. Ben smiled triumphantly over the victory, yet the moment was ruined as a sharp pain on his ear prompted him otherwise.

"Nice going, jerk!" Gwen cried, pulling the boy's ear with no intention of letting go. The pain felt as if a crackle of static electricity hit his ear as it was yanked further.

"Ow! Ow! What did I do now?" Ben cried as he struggled to free himself from the clutches of his demented cousin. Gwen locked her pinch firmly, with her brows furrowing slightly. She began to mimic his actions from a while ago.

"_It's probably just an accident! She's just a defenseless little girl! Huhuhu…_" Gwen ended the strange performance with a big deathly glare of doom. "Really, how're you supposed to get along with her if you keep putting up an act like that?" She released his ear at last, with the surging pain still staying for a while. Ben rubbed his ear painfully, all the while as Gwen's words were beginning to get to him.

"Ugh, as painful as it sounds… you have a point." He replied with a grunt. The boy's ear really hurt like death. Rubbing his ear once more, he began to head towards the girl and picked up the scattered books on the checkered floor. She seemed to be doing the same action, yet she didn't notice that he was in front of her.

"The next time you see those guys, don't worry! They like to think they're all that." Ben spoke as he simultaneously handed Jennifer that books. She jolted back startled when she first saw him, but after remembering the familiar face, she calmed down and got the books. Ben then swallowed and began to clear his throat.

"Oh yeah… and by the way, I'm…. uh, sorry about that incident earlier. I didn't really, you know, think about what I said awhile ago." He apologized, as he bowed his head down in embarrassment. This was worse than fighting aliens, _anytime_! Yet, as awkward as his apology was, the girl seemed to accept it. She nodded while carrying her books, and headed towards the opposite direction. Gwen smirked as she watched the scene progress, and patted her cousin roughly on the head.

"Now that's more like it! Keep that up and girls might _actually_ notice you!" she said jokingly, ruffling his brown hair even more. Ben pushed her hand away and fixed his mane, smiling annoyed at his cousin.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." He said sarcastically. Gwen punched him in the shoulder playfully, and the two cousins headed out the door.

* * *

_Ding-donnngggg…_

_Ding-donnnggg…_

_Ding-dong, ding dong, ding-dong…_

Ben was playing with the doorbell again. And (unfortunately), since he was sure that no one was going to scold him, he could play with the doorbell as much to his heart's content. You can't blame him, though. The sound was very interesting and it was very tempting to do so. Ben was outside the gates of the Decada residence, and he rang it continuously until Ms. Cruz went out the mahogany doorway.

"Why hello, dearie! Come in!" Ms. Cruz said with her usual perky tone. Ben said his thanks, and began to enter the vast space of the manor. He couldn't help but feel weird, though; entering the house of the person he saved a while ago. Especially since it was a shy girl like Jennifer. Urgh. Upon entering the room, he saw that Jennifer had already started researching. The clacking sound accompanied her as she hit the keys furiously. Ben decided to check out how it was going, yet ended up very puzzled as he reread the report's contents.

"Ugh. Who knew that there was so much just about the guy whose name sounds like weenie." He said grimly, reviewing the profile of the man who discovered the Continental Drift Theory, Alfred Wegener. The girl continued typing, though Ben could've sworn he heard a soft chuckle a while ago. Shrugging, he decided to stop depressing himself and began to look around for something more interesting than the report.

Deciding not to look at the shelves (as he had learned from his previous visit), he silently went out the room for a while and looked around the mansion once again. He noticed that the floors were more slippery than before, and seized the opportunity to slide on them. He ran a bit at first, muttering "Cool!" as he slid a perfectly good distance. He did this a few more times to humor himself, and built up enough courage to make a long slide. He searched for an empty hallway to slide on; finding one that had a shiny finish to its wooden floors. Then, bracing himself, he ran at a furious rate, then allowing himself to slide across the shiny floor. He enjoyed the long slide as he felt his hair fly, yet began to panic as he found out that he couldn't stop. When he learned to stop, though, it was too late; he had already crashed into a wall.

"Ow…" he moaned, with his body leaned back against the wall in an upside-down position. Pain began to ensue as his body continued to slam to the floor, in which felt like he was sumo-slammed by Kenko, his hero's arch-nemesis. Yet, as he rolled his head to the side, he noticed a tiny crack… with a chain protruding out of it.

"Huh. Never seen that before…" he spoke to no one in particular, sitting himself up as he tugged onto the silver chain. With not much effort though (as he found out), the trinket was pulled out… revealing itself to be a silver locket. The locket itself didn't look new; which was visible through the wear and blandness of it. Yet the contents of it were shocking… Ben's eyes grew wide at the sight. On one side of the locket was their family picture, and on the other side was a picture of a cute Baby Jennifer. Ben began to rush towards Jennifer's room at the discovery, seeming to not mind the pain at all.

"Jennifer!" he cried as he barged into her room. Jennifer looked at the boy in surprise as he ran towards her, showing her the locket. "Is this yours?"

A silence dragged across the room as Jennifer held the locket with trembling hands. The girl stared at the locket for a while, and transferred to her bed. She bowed her head and concealed her face with her bangs; with two teardrops falling on the shiny metal. It was there when she began to sob uncontrollably, holding the locket closer to her head. Her wails grew louder and louder, and she started to shake uncontrollably.

"No, no! Don't cry! Please!" Ben cried in alarm, startled at the girl's reaction to the locket. Jennifer lifted her feet and buried herself in her legs, still shaking as she sobbed. Ben began to jerk his head around, beginning to panic. "Please! Don't cry!" he cried once again, as he patted her back in an attempt to soothe her.

Just then, Ms. Cruz stepped into her room in wonder. "What happened here?" she inquired, with not one trace of blame in her voice. Ben removed his hand from Jen's back and walked up to the woman.

"It wasn't my fault! I swear!" he tried to explain, with his voice slightly cracking in his panic. Ms. Cruz's eyes widened as she found the locket, and pushed Ben aside as she headed towards the sobbing girl. The girl dropped the locket as she covered her face, and the woman began to comfort her. Ben picked up the locket after it fell, and showed it to Ms. Cruz.

"How about the…"

"Keep it." Ms. Cruz interrupted. "I'm sorry Ben, but please get out of the room."

"But…"

"_Please!_"

He looked in disappointment as the woman hugged the child. It wasn't his fault, really! Yet, he obeyed her commands and walked outside slowly; closing the door behind him. He wrapped the silver chain around his wrists, and began to head towards the main entrance. On cue, the RV arrived shortly.

* * *

Ben stared at the locket in a melancholy manner as it hung from his hand. How could one object… cause one so much pain? He didn't understand it. And what happened in the manor was a bit shocking, if not disappointing. Did that mean he wouldn't be able to enter the manor gates again? Did he really blow it?

"Look who's bummed." stated Gwen from the front seat. Ben grimaced at the side-comment, being more annoyed as he was.

"Really Gwen, could you stop it? I'm not in the mood to annoy you." he stated bluntly, wagging the locket unconsciously. The sight of the pretty locket caught Gwen's eye, so she unbuckled her seatbelt and ran towards her cousin.

"Wow! How did you get that!" she cried. Ben hid it behind his back and prayed that she wouldn't see it.

"It's nothing!"

"Uh-huh, you get a pretty trinket for _nothing_. I bet you stole it, or…" Gwen gasped at the possibility, and began to speak in an excited tone. "She gave it to you, didn't she?!" she cried.

"Get real."

"What is it for? Did you save her from falling off the balcony, or actually pulled your own weight on the report or…" she then paused as she looked at her cousin's forlorn expression, having a feeling that her cousin was serious. The boy looked at the locket sadly once again, leaning on the walls of the RV.

"You blew it, didn't you?" Gwen inquired, her face turning a bit dim. Ben furrowed his brows at this statement.

"You think you know everything, don't you?" he yelled, with his eyes glaring daggers at his cousin. She looked at him in sympathy.

"What happened?" she tried to ask in the gentlest way possible. Ben turned away from her, still looking at the locket. "I don't want to talk about it." He replied softly, making his voice barely audible. He looked at her remorsefully after a little while, yet his stare grew softer as he saw his cousin looking at him in a "I-care-about-you" manner. He pulled his hair in frustration, landing on the leatherette seat.

"Argh! It's so weird! She just barges into the classroom and now what? I have to please her! What did I do to deserve this?!" Ben cried, tumbling down his seat. Gwen shook her head as she watched her cousin rant, sighing at his actions.

"Look, instead of ranting around without anything happening, why don't you try to make the most of the situation?" Gwen suggested, trying to not get on her cousin's nerves.

"Like what?" he asked albeit bluntly, pausing from whining on the floor.

"For starters, you could always try to do something sweet for her. That could probably help build her trust towards you."

"Yeah, and how exactly do you know that?"

"For one, _I'm a girl_. If you have nothing else to say, let me finish." Ben sat silently for a while, making Gwen smile. "Good. Now as I was saying, try to do something nice to her. Remember the time you scared off those dweebs JT and Cash? Something like that."

"Okay… I think I'm getting it."

"That's nice to know. Now when you see her at school, what're you going to do?" Ben hesitated a moment, and began to speak grudgingly.

"_Be nice to her_." He said reluctantly.

"Now ain't that a good little obedient dweeb?"

"Hey, I'm gonna do it; but I never said I'll like it." Gwen smirked at this comment.

"All the same. Oh, by the way…" She grabbed the locket from the boy's hand, unwrapping it from his wrist. The boy was about to protest, yet she re-wrapped it again in a more fashionable manner before he had the chance to do so. "It doesn't hurt to make a good impression." explained Gwen, winking at her cousin. Ben then began to smile, looking at the locket as it dangled from the beautiful band of silver chains.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

* * *

Okay, though I haven't watched all of the Season Four episodes yet, I decided: hey, what the heck? Sorry for the long update! Oh, by the way, could someone show me somewhere where I could watch Ben 10: Alien Force eps.? Thanks!

-Paite


	6. Chapter Five: Invitation

The sound of the lively crowd echoed throughout the hallway as second period ended, exploding through every nook and cranny of the school. In no time, the hallways were filled with the laughter, conversation and mockery of children, giving a sense of denseness across the halls. Among the sea of humanity, two familiar faces popped up in the crowd; seemingly searching for something… or _someone_.

"Ugh, do I HAVE to?" whined Benjamin Tennyson, putting his hands into his pockets. Beside him was sorcery extraordinaire, Gwendolyn Tennyson; who had happened to be his cousin.

"You got yourself into this mess, so I'm helping you get out of it." She spoke in as-a-matter-of-fact manner. The boy groaned in frustration.

"Yeah, but does it HAVE to be today? I mean, I could talk to her later, or tomorrow, or…"

"Nuh-uh-uh! The sooner the better!"

"Argh."

So search the halls did they, looking and watching for any signs or traces of the person they were looking for. The mass of chains around his right wrist rattled softly as he walked roughly down the crowded hallways, and the locket bounced as well. Their eyes darted in every direction; still searching for the person wanted. As the clock ticked by, every second seemed like an eternity as they searched. How in the world would they find her within the whole recess? The two decided to give up the search for a while, scratching their heads in confusion.

"We've looked everywhere! The halls, the classrooms, the girls' locker room… everywhere! And not one trace of her!" Gwen cried, feeling the frustration build up within her.

"Oh well, we've tried everything. Now I'll just be going…" Ben said briefly, leaving with a grin on his face. Unfortunately, Gwen caught up to her cousin and grabbed his collar.

"Oh no you don't! You're not going anywhere until…" Gwen cried as she held her cousin by the collar. Yet, her speech was interrupted as she saw the wanted person pass in front of them, seemingly not minding anything. Gwen released he cousin's collar abruptly, causing him to fall flat on his butt.

"Ow! Gwen, what did you do that for?!" Ben cried. Gwen paid no attention to her cousin as she proceeded to point at the target's direction.

"There! There she is! Let's go, dweeb!" she cried, dragging her cousin behind her. "Hey! Ow… Gwen! Stop it!"

Once on arrival near the target, Gwen released her grip on her cousin slowly, and pushed him towards her. The boy looked at his cousin nervously, wishing that he wasn't put up in the awkward situation. "What am I gonna say?" he whispered, his voice slightly raspy. "Just do something! Maybe apologize!" Gwen replied whispering. Ben swallowed hard as he neared his look-alike, half-hoping that she wouldn't hear him and continue walking.

"Hey Jennifer?" he said sheepishly, trying his best to make his voice barely audible. Unfortunately for him, the girl heard him perfectly. She stared at him steadily with fragile eyes, as if any moment now she was going to break into tears. Her mouth reverted into a small line as she looked at him; deeply, sadly melancholic. "Uh… well… you see…" Ben panicked, waving his hands like crazy. After the panic attack, Ben lowered his hands and sighed, knowing that he couldn't avoid this much longer.

"I'm sorry about what happened before. I didn't know that this," he raised his elbow and pointed at the locket "… could hurt you. I'm sorry." He spoke, lowering his elbow and bowing to her. Jen's eyes began to lose their sadness, generally lighting up a bit. A small smile grabbed at the corners of her mouth, touched by the apology. Ben straightened himself up, and began smiling as he knew he was forgiven. He then froze momentarily, with his eyes darting around the surroundings.

"Okay… this… is _awkward_." He finally said, looking face to face with the girl. She said nothing, as usual, and just stared at him quietly. Gwen began nudging him behind his back, causing him to irritatedly turn his head to face her.

"What?" he hissed. Gwen kept her poker face on.

"Don't just end it like that! Keep talking!" she whispered strongly. He glared.

"Then how do you expect me to end it??" Gwen widened her eyes as she realized she was interrupting the conversation, pushing him towards the girl. "Never mind… just keep talking!" she whispered strongly. He felt his tongue beginning to trip and his whole body tense at the situation as he remembered that he had nothing to say. _Just_ _say the first thing that comes to your mind!_, he thought.

"Hey, do you want to go to my Grandpa's this Saturday?" he said albeit monotonously, widening his eyes after his sentence. _What the heck did I just say?_ he thought in shock. He looked at his cousin Gwen, who also looked shocked as well at his statement.

"Gwen, I need help here…" he mumbled, all the while looking at the girl.

"What do you want me to do?" she whispered back, giving him the impression that he was on his own. Ben sighed, and decided to speak to the girl one last time.

"Uh… so… um… do you want to go? 'Cause like if you don't want, it's fine and stuff…" he said, trailing off. He looked at the girl one more time, feeling a bit queasy of her presence. It wasn't like he didn't like her, it was just… well, her presence could be unbearable at times. To his surprise, the girl (shyly) nodded yes to the invitation. He heard Gwen quietly cry a "YES!" behind his back, reminding him more and more that he never wanted to do this in the first place.

"Uh… okay! So… we'll just meet at your place, 'kay?" he stated, and the girl replied with another nod before she walked away. Gwen then walked beside her cousin, patting him on the back.

"That was a pretty good job… for a dweeb, that is." She said, albeit mockingly. Ben frowned at the statement.

"Oh yeah, let's see if _you_ can handle her!" he said, his voice slightly challenging.

"Puh-lease, I bet I could be friends with her faster that you ever could!"

"Yeah, as if!"

"Fine! Let's make a deal: if I make friends with her first, you get to do all my chores for a month!"

"And if **I** win, you get to clean my room for a year!"

"This Saturday?"

"DEAL!" The two shook hands at this statement, and walked towards their respective classes.

Saturday was going to be more promising than it was.

* * *

Oh my gosh! I'm really sorry for the super long update! There's been a lot going on in my mind, you know. And this Writer's Block ain't helping one bit. (CURSE THEE, WRITER'S BLOCK! _CURSE THEE!!_) Plus, there's this audition going on, and I'm very, _**very**_ nervous. So once again my dear readers, SORRY!

-Paite

(PS, I already watched the first episode of Alien Force! Aww, the Gwen/Kevinness!)


	7. Chapter Six: Coincidence or not?

Saturday, 11:39 pm

"Don't tell me you're gonna cook the mealworm special!!"

Grandpa Max chuckled a bit at his granddaughter's comment, feeling a bit amused by her slightly whiny voice. He was normally used to his grandson's voice whining, but it always sounded off whenever he heard his granddaughter whine. She had always tried her best to appear tough, straight-forward and indignant, but it was times like these when it reminded him that she still had her shortcomings. Ah, it's probably one of the joys of being a grandpa.

"Now, now, Gwen… mealworms are rich in protein, and they taste delicious! Didn't you think so when you first tried it?" Max said gaily. Gwen groaned a bit, a bit sullen from her grandpa's unshaken happy disposition.

"But Grandpa! We're going to have a guest later! Don't you think you should introduce your… er, _delicious_ recipes to her in a more subtle manner?" Gwen retorted, wincing slightly at "delicious".

"No worries! I'm sure your little friend will love it!" he said enthusiastically. Gwen shook her head in disdain, and prayed with all her heart that her grandpa would change his mind. Ben, on the other hand, was just sitting on his bunk reading one of his comics while listening to his music pocket. Gwen then watched her cousin in slight monotony at his behavior; feeling slightly irritated at his predictable behavior.

"Hey dweeb, don't you have something planned for the camping trip?" she called from her seat, with a mocking grin plastered on her face. Ben still kept his laid-back 'tude without looking away from his precious comics.

"Nope!" he said unflinching, turning the pages. Gwen smiled deliciously as she realized that her cousin had easily forgotten about their little banter.

"Sure, whatever doofus… I just hope you enjoy cleaning my laundry for a month!" she said, trying to make her voice barely audible. "What?!" cried Ben as he tumbled down from the top bunk bed, hearing his cousin's taunting words.

"Oh yeah? It's on, Gwen!" he cried, shaking his fist at her. Gwen replied by outing her tongue out, taunting him even more.

"Bring it!"

"Okay kids, we're here!" cried Grandpa Max as he stopped in front of the Decada residence. The two looked at the manor shortly, and then looked at each other with smirks on their faces.

* * *

"Take care of Jennifer, dears! And I hope you liked the cookies!" Ms. Cruz said gaily, waving at the three youngsters. Jennifer looked at her feet while walking, with a large blush consuming her face as she walked along with the two cousins.

"Don't worry, Ms. Cruz! We won't do any harm to your niece!" cried Gwen, waving back with a smile on her face. "Though I'm not so sure about Ben…" she then added, smirking lightly at her cousin. Ben pouted.

"Haha… yeah right, Gwen!" he whispered strongly, glaring back at his cousin. He looked back to the girl at the middle, with her head still down and a face as red as tomatoes. He thought about his next move quietly as he observed her, not wanting to be beaten by Gwen. He then smiled as he thought of it, and wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders playfully.

"So Jen; this your first time going out?" he said as he grinned. He wouldn't let himself be beaten by his know-it-all cousin, proving to her that she didn't now everything. But alas, Jennifer unfortunately pushed him away strongly, leaving Gwen left to laugh at her cousin's misfortune.

"_Yea-ah_, you sure showed me!" she blurted sarcastically in between hysteric laughter. Ben frowned in reply. "You just wait and see!"

Air escaped as the doors of the RV brushed open. Jen lifted her face slightly to see the interior, watching with observant eyes as the two cousins sat on one of the Rust Bucket's tables. Normally one of them would occupy a seat next to their Grandpa, yet the two were determined as ever to win the deal. Jennifer just stood in the hallway shyly, not bothering to take a seat.

"My turn," Gwen said in a hushed voice, smirking as her cousin frowned back. "Hey Jennifer!" she called. The girl looked at her shyly, and stared straight at her as she waited for Gwen's next command.

"Don't just stand there; _sit_! You can sit next to me." Gwen said cheerily. For some reason, the girl looked quite uncomfortable at the statement as shown by the sudden flush on her face. She shook her head rapidly in response, confusing Gwen slightly. Ben began to hold back a grin as he knew that that would happen, making Gwen glare daggers at him. She would not give up.

"C'mon Jen, have a seat! Your feet need rest!" Gwen pressed on, grabbing Jen's arm. Jennifer, startled at this action, pulled her arm away strongly and began to move away from the girl with a flushed expression. Ben laughed even more at this, not seeming to mind that there was a visitor.

"Yeah, you did **a lot** better than _me_!" he blurted.

"Laugh all you want, but the real challenge happens when we _actually_ get there!" she cried. Ben paused his laughter shortly and leaned on the table with a cocky expression.

"But even then, I'm still gonna win!" he said smirking, all the while Jennifer watched the two cousins banter some more in silence.

Arriving at the spot, the three youngsters looked curiously at their whereabouts. It seemed like their Grandpa decided to take them all on a camping trip (yet again), as shown by the lush green forest surrounding them. Initially, the cousins did not notice this (since they were busy quarreling) yet were still not surprised. However, a look of astonishment washed over Jennifer's face; replacing the forlorn looked she always kept on it. While looking around, Ben (who was caught between listening to his Music Pocket and exploring the area) noticed a small book stick out from Jennifer's small satchel. He widened his eyes as he realized what she was bringing along with her.

"You read manga?!" he cried, not believing the scene. Jennifer shyly nodded a yes at this, exciting Ben at the discovery. He slowly took out the manga from her satchel, gasping at the cover. "Whoa, you have Ultra Man no.1!? That's… that's amazing! I thought that issue never existed!" he cried out more as Jennifer began to make out a small smile on her face. It seemed like the two had something in common, after all.

Ben then blushed as he realized that he was taking someone's stuff and flaunting it without permission, feeling a bit awkward at the moment. Yet, it was drowned out once again by his excitement as he carefully examined the manga.

"Can… can I read it?" he said with his eyes dreamily looking at the cover, and his voice practically crackling with excitement. Jen nodded a yes to his excitement, and he began zooming through the pages like a fighter jet. Gwen, while helping Max set up camp, looked at the direction of the two look-alikes. About to say something, she then closed her mouth with a smile. _Besides_, she thought, _it's probably worth cleaning the dweeb's room for a year_. She sighed deeply as she imagined cleaning his smelly room, and turned back to help her Grandpa.

"Hey, have you read the part when Ultra Man meets Godzilla?" he asked in between reading a chapter, sporting a smile as he talked to her. She nodded yes, blushing slightly as she realized she was revealing all this stuff to him. She then took out his hand, tracing her finger over it.

"What are you…?" Ben spoke, a bit surprised at the gesture. Yet, he stopped his sentence as he felt letters being traced on his hands; getting the clue. "It… was… cool? Yeah, I know! That part was totally awesome!" he said as he read the words. Jen smiled as she nodded, while Ben's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Oh, how about the part when…" Ben was interfered by a large crashing noise, seemingly coming from the city near them. Grandpa Max and Gwen looked towards the direction of the crash firmly, while Ben smiled as he knew what the crash meant.

"Jennifer, I think it's best to get into the RV. Ben, Gwen, the two of you head out there to see what's wrong. I'll stay here and entertain the guest." Max said firmly, bringing Jen into the RV. The girl looked confused at what was happening, and the two cousins nodded before they ran towards the nearby city. Jennifer watched them through the window, with a look of concern present on her face. After a few moments, Jen suddenly flew out the doorway, alarming Grandpa Max.

"Jennifer! Stay in the RV! Where do you think you're going?!" he cried as she ran through the forest. In a flash, she disappeared from his sight.

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Gwen said sternly. It seemed like the culprit was some crazy madman in what seemed to be a flying saucer terrorizing the city.

"All of you shall pay for your words! Soon, I, Conerpicus Dimswey shall rule this city! And no one will taunt me ever again for my brilliant ideas! VENGEANCE IS MINE!!" the madman said, all the while Ben sighed. It was the "revenge" thing… _again_. He liked it better when he was fighting aliens.

"Don't worry, this guy's a flake. I'll go Fourarms and take him from the front, while you take him from the rear." He said with a smirk, dialing his watch to the heavy-built alien. Gwen nodded and used a spell to teleport herself, and Ben slammed the face of the watch. His confident expression turned to one of disdain as he looked at his hands; unsatisfied with the results.

"XLR8?! I thought I already fixed that problem!" he cried, yet sped off to the direction of the madman; not letting this setback get in the way of the plan. He charged towards the flying saucer hastily with a fierce expression, preparing to slam it to the ground.

"Hey, ugly! Have a taste of…" his sentence was interrupted as a blue beam shot at him, paralyzing himself. Gwen charged towards the madman as her hands glowed as she chanted a spell, yet he also shot her with the beam. "You thought I wouldn't expect that, hmm? Well, tough luck! That's what people get for underestimating me!" he cried, ending his rant with a disturbing display of maniacal laughter. Ben and Gwen looked at each other with worried faces, and the madman threw the two into a large skyscraper. Ben rubbed his head as Gwen magically floated down, still retaining the pain.

"Okay… so he's better than I thought. Figures." He said sheepishly as Gwen glared at him.

"So now what?" Gwen said sarcastically. Ben rubbed his chin as he plotted out the next move, still trying to battle the pain of being thrown into a building. "Hmm… I guess it's time to get serious. How about this: attack him with all we've got!" he cried, charging towards the man once more, with Gwen following suit. The madman grinned menacingly as mini-vortex fields began to appear out of nowhere. Ben stumbled as he almost fell into one, while Gwen aimed some whirlwinds at him with her spells. Still, the man could not be shaken.

"Now, now, dearies… you should know by now that I am unstoppable!" the man cried, generating a large beam able to blow the two away. They crashed into a nearby road, creating two large craters in the concrete. Gwen, although she was able to create a magical field before she landed, was knocked unconscious while Ben just suffered a major headache. The man, not minding his cousin (since she was unconscious, anyway) flew over Ben's crater as he generated a large beam.

"Don't worry, sonny… this won't hurt a _bit_…" he said, about to aim the beam at him. Yet suddenly, he disappeared all of a sudden mysteriously. Ben raised an eyebrow at this and went to where Gwen was; trying to keep her conscious.

"Wha… what just happened?" she asked in a slurry voice. The man then came back again with an angry expression, looking around for something. "Who did that? Who disabled my paralysis ray?!" he cried, then looking at the children.

"No matter. At least I could get rid of a few nuisances while I'm at it…" he said, aiming another ray. Yet he disappeared again all of a sudden, and the two cousins disappeared also as well. Gwendolyn did not notice this, but Ben felt himself being lifted and being moved at inhuman speed. With his alien eyes, he realized that the three of then were being carried… _by another XLR8_!

"What the…" Ben muttered. The other XLR8 looked at him and winked, leaving the boy even more confused. As usual, the kinceleran sported a woman's face… and was assumingly female. It winked at Ben shortly before disabling the other controls with quick fingers, and threw the man 50 feet into the air. She then left the two on a safe street, and left to go towards the near-setting sun. Ben looked at where she was going in astonishment, while Gwen slowly went out of her secure position; looking around in confusion.

"That's weird… I thought there was supposed to be a hole here… and where's the bad guy?" she said, looking around baffled. She then stopped and widened her eyes as she remembered something, and looked at her cousin (who had just newly discharged from his alien form).

"Did you see any girl aliens??" she cried, grabbing his collar in alarm. Ben pulled away from Gwen's grasp and dusted his shirt; obviously not pleased about being yanked.

"Yeah, but I didn't get to see much of her. She was just like XLR8… and she was fast. I couldn't talk to her." Ben said gloomily. Gwen looked in disappointment, yet the two decided to head back to the RV empty-handed. The sun was setting, after all. As they reached the campsite, they found a worried Grandpa Max frantically searching for something.

"Hey Grandpa, what're you looking for?" Ben said curiously. Grandpa Max turned to them and wiped some sweat off his forehead, looking behind some more trees.

"Your friend ran off while you guys were at the city! She must've been looking for you!" Grandpa Max said, overturning a stone. Before the two cousins had a chance to be alarmed, Jennifer appeared out of the trees; putting her weight on one of them.

"Uh, she's right there, Grandpa." Ben said as he pointed to her. Grandpa Max's face turned to a look of relief as he saw the girl.

"Oh, thank Heavens. Her aunt might have been looking for her…" Max trailed off shortly, since all of a sudden the girl collapsed to the ground with a weary look on her face. The trio gasped as she did this, running towards her in case she needed assistance.

"Jennifer! Snap out of it!" Ben cried as he shook the girl with all his might.

"JENNIFER!"

* * *

Okay, I finally completed the sixth chapter! I thought it would take ages… Oh, and did I mention how much I _despise _writer's block? Okay, I think I'll answer some reviews…

To Sami-SDGForce: Uh… what's with the question mark-exclamation point? XD

To Meepits Rule: Actually… Ms. Cruz is her aunt. Well, I guess you've already learned that because of this chapter… XD

To Kuromii-hime: I'm so glad you take time to review this! See… Ben doesn't blow it! :D

To Diamond Moonlight: Yes, the Drama!!

To Cute in Purple: Thanks for the info on B10:AF!

To goddess-chan123: You do? XD Okay… hmm, why don't I put in some complicated plot twists… nah, just kidding. Thanks!

To Story Tagger: Thanks for all the comments!

A warm welcome to all those who reviewed. For those who requested for updates… I won't guarantee since we're having a recital this May thirty-first, but I'll do my best! I hope you like this chapter!

-Paite


	8. Chapter Seven: Revelation

"Ben, you gotta check this out!"

"Huh?" Ben said dazedly, realizing that he had dozed off. Everything seemed just the way it was before, back to that amazing summer of crime-fighting. The trio was on patrol once more; which was allowed since it was a weekend, anyway. Grandpa Max hummed a tune from his new Shag Carpeting CD, while Gwen was back at her laptop like old times. At that, Ben slowly slumped down from his old bunk bed, slowly heading towards his cousin.

"What is it? I was trying to get some zzz's…" he said sleepily as he rubbed his eye, yawning simultaneously. Gwen turned her laptop at him for better view, and the two were astonished as they looked at the article.

"It says here that there were other sightings of aliens showing up around the globe; mysteriously helping other cities." Gwen read as Ben looked at it more in disbelief. "And that's not where it ends," she said, clicking on one of the images. Ben gasped as he recognized the figures, widening his eyes.

"It's that girl heatblast!" he cried, while Gwen proceeded to click the other pictures.

"Those aliens were your original ten, Ben… but they're all female." she explained as her cousin looked at the other pictures in shock. "And I'm pretty sure that Kevin doesn't have anything to do with this." she continued, commenting on the time one of their old enemies had harnessed the Omnitrix's powers. Ben looked at it some more for a few moments, flopping down on Gwen's bunk bed tiredly.

"This is all too weird…" he said in a thoughtful tone. He then rose up all of a sudden, "What do you think?"

"I think that this patrol is over." interrupted Max from the driver's seat. The two cousins looked at him in surprise at that statement, yet Max looked at the back mirror in a stern air. "So far, nothing much has happened today. By the way Ben, don't you have another appointment with Jennifer today?" he continued. Ben widened his eyes at the realization.

"Oh man! I was supposed to be there hours ago!" he cried. Gwen sighed as she held her forehead gently at her cousin's reaction. "Ben will always be Ben." She muttered.

Arriving at Jen's house, Ben flew out the RV doors as an expectant Ms. Cruz was waiting at the manor gates. She smiled warmly as she held Jennifer's head tenderly, who was gripping onto her aunt's blouse at that time. The sun shined vibrantly that afternoon, yet due to Ben's haste, the whole scenic atmosphere was forgotten and brought into a sense of hurriedness and impatience. Ben apologized sheepishly to the two with his head bowed reverently, while Ms. Cruz explained that everything was all right.

"I'm just glad that Jen's starting to get out more. A growing girl like her needs to be outdoors more often!" Ms. Cruz said perkily. "So anyway, what is the itinerary?" she continued.

"Well, since the kids say they're doing a report on the theory by Alfred Wegener, I've decided to bring them to a nearby museum for their report." Max explained calmly, smiling. "And probably after, we could settle down for a nice picnic."

"Mm, that sounds nice." She replied, a soft smile on her face. "Just make sure that Jennifer doesn't overexert herself again this time. She came really tired the last time you sent her home."

"Not a problem." said Max, still smiling. Ms. Cruz didn't seem at all accusatory at that statement, so it was his queue to know that he could relax for a while. She waved a goodbye as the RV began to drive out of site, smiling as she watched her lovable niece go out in the distance. Situations like those didn't happen all too often, so she cherished every moment of it.

In the Rust Bucket, Jen unpacked her thick manga book and laid it on her lap. While reading it, Ben stole to her side and read it as well without her knowing it. He was pretty glad that she wasn't reading any of those fluffy- sickeningly sweet romance ones… the one she brought was pure action. He inched closer to read the rest of it, his mind being sucked into the comic itself. The story was pretty mind-blowing; probably one of the best he'd ever read. Still not content with his position, he inched closer…

**EEEEENNNNGGHH! SCREEEEEECH! **

As the RV jolted roughly, the two suddenly slid to the side sharply; and Gwen held on to the table to prevent the laptop from falling. After a series of rough turns, the two slid to the floor, with Jennifer's manga book sliding as well. A few more jolts, and Ben's head started to ache. He didn't even know what was going on through the rough jolts that followed. At long last when the road seemed smooth, Gwen let go of the table assured that he laptop was safe, and Ben slowly began to open his eyes.

"Ugh…" moaned Ben in pain. Opening his eyes, his face automatically flushed beet red as he found out he had fallen on top of a shaking Jen.

"GAH!" he cried as he realized this, moving quickly away from her. Gwen looked down to see the situation, and started to laugh out loud as she saw the shenanigan. Ben glared, still blushing. "It's not funny, Gwen!"

She kept on laughing. "Sure, dweeb!"

While the whole scenario was being played, Jen started to get up slowly; unconscious of the two cousins' bickering.

* * *

"Bellwood Museum," Max said proudly "One of the most educational spots here in Bellwood."

"And one of the most **boring**." added Ben, yawning shortly afterwards. Gwen, who seemed most fascinated by it, was offended.

"Really, how many times do you practice that line?" she said in irritation. "Besides, we're here for **your** research. So don't go all whiny when we're doing something to save your grade, Cadet Lazy. Jen's pretty much the one who does all the work **you're** supposed to do."

Pointing a finger at Jen, it was true. For the trip, she had already prepared her ball pen and notebook for the occasion. And as of then, she was already taking down notes about the various topics surrounding the theory as they walked by. After proving her point, Gwen proceeded to give him the "I-told-you-so" face.

"Alright! Sheesh, what do you want me to do?" he said, albeit irritated as well.

"_Hellooo_, do I still need to tell you?" she said sarcastically, giving him a look. He sighed.

"Fine."

The museum was quite fascinating, judging from an analytical (and un-Ben like) point of view. Bellwood Museum was divided into different sections, according to subject: Math, Science, English and History. In each category, it seemed to have covered all the topics learned in school; such as arithmetic, biology and the like. There were also vivid displays in each; for example, the insect collection in the Science Category. It was also in this area that our group of heroes decided to pass by, after the research. Ben pushed his face into the glass as he examined one interesting little specimen, much to Gwen's chagrin.

"Ben! Stop staining the glass, will you?" Unfortunately, Ben ignored that little comment.

"Man, this is so cool! It almost looks like an alien or something." he said enthusiastically as he stared, fitting a grin into the glass.

"Well, if you keep on staring at it like that, _**it**_ is going to melt." she said, still irked.

"Then again, it would be quite sad if that happened."

Surprised at the addition of the new voice, Ben and Gwen looked at the source of it. They held their breaths a bit as they looked upon him is his sallow, yellow-greenish glory; forgetting how he looked like from the small incident rate after summer. In short: they forgot how disgustingly ugly he was.

"Dr. Animo." said Ben heroically for the sake of drama.

Dr. Animo grinned crookedly; revealing his ugly, yellow teeth. "Ah, it pleases me that you have not forgotten, Benjamin."

"Well, duh… who wouldn't forget a face like _that_." Ben said in joking sarcasm, pointing at Dr. Animo's face. He frowned, edging towards him.

"Oh… pity, your sense of humor hasn't gone away." He said sourly "Although, this may also be used to my advantage."

At the exact moment, he pulled out a weird ray-like device and began to zap the specimen Ben was looking at. At once, it began to grow in size… mutating randomly at some points, and then taking form as an ugly-looking abomination. Dr. Animo began to laugh maniacally as it still grew in size, making Gwen turn green at the mere sight of it. After it occupied the museum, it began to multiply… something Ben saw his alien Ditto do.

"That is… _pathetic_." Ben said after a while. Dr. Animo looked confused.

"What do you mean? This magnificent creature will be your doom!"

"Look, you just mixed all of your old rays together. I know how they work. Especially with that nasty Ditto glitch." he continued, pointing teasingly at one of the abominations. "I bet I could take out all of those in one blow."

Animo began to smile crookedly again. "I would love to see you try, Ben Tennyson. Alteroids, _**attack**_!"

As they began charging him, Ben quickly dialed his watch into his desired alien, wishing under his breath that he wouldn't turn into Grey Matter at that point. He then began to transform, smiling as a pair of wings began to grow behind him. Sporting his "game" look, he shot out of the way, dodging the ugly creature. Yet as he turned to mock it, another ugly creature knocked him in the head as he flew.

"Uy… I was _so_ not expecting that." he muttered, using one of his arms to rub his head. Dr. Animo grinned overhead on one of those disgusting things.

"Do you still think my creatures are pathetic, hmm?" he said mockingly.

"Tough luck." Ben retorted, gearing up again. "But try this on for size!"

Gluing down the one Animo was on, he began to slice the legs of the beings with his own legs. It flinched a bit, but then another one caught him by the wings, leaving him helplessly adrift. Gwen, Max and Jennifer hid behind one of the displays, watching the fight in horror.

"Do not underestimate me, Benjamin… I have finally perfected the rays to their maximum. Now who do you think is more superior?" said Animo, still grinning in triumph.

"You… you won't get away with this!" cried Ben, still struggling. The bug-thing held him closer to Animo.

"Correction… I already have. Now the whole world shall bow down to Dr. Aloysius Animo, with no one to condemn me again!" he then began to laugh maniacally, with one bug shaking the defeated Ben.

"Oh yeah?!" cried Gwen as she jumped out of the display, holding her arm out. Dr. Animo just grinned.

"Gwen, don't!" pleaded Ben, yet Gwen just looked at him skeptically.

"Come on… I thought you were already used to me saving your butt… since no alien seems to be saving yours at the moment." she added momentarily with a sigh. Facing Dr. Animo again, he held her hand at his direction, having an intense look as she chanted in a strange language. An earthquake suddenly came as she did so, with the earth splitting beneath it as it came. The bug holding Ben then dropped him as it did, with the Omnitrix simultaneously discharging. The two cousins then hid behind the display again, with the crowds in the museum evacuating it immediately. Debris began to fall as this happened, crushing the horrendous creations of Dr. Animo, who began to retreat.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" Dr. Animo cried as he made his escape. Ben groaned as he stood up.

"He got away!" Ben cried, with Max pulling him down for safety.

"Never mind that… we have to get out of here!" Max cried, leading them towards a lighted exit. Yet on the way out, a sound caught Jennifer's ear as they escaped.

"Ma…ma…mom…" came a distant whimper. She looked back.

"Ma…mom… mama…" it cried again. A little girl, probably eight years old, stood there petrified as she watched the debris fall around her. At that, Jennifer suddenly ran towards the little girl, while Gwen looked at her in shock.

"Jen! Get back!" she cried, wondering what cacophony she was up to. "Where do you thing you're going?! The building's gonna collapse!!" Yet, she seemed to ignore the voices.

"Come back!" cried Max as she ran, yet again, it seemed like she hadn't heard them. A large chunk of debris suddenly hurled towards her as she was about to get the little girl.

"_**NO!!**_"

Suddenly, there was a blue flash.

The debris fell to the ground, breaking into the marble-tiled floors.

Where was Jennifer?

The trio suddenly felt as if they were lifted for a short while, and in a flash, they were outside, safe. The little girl was in her mother's arms in an instant, and the trio looked around at the desolate area they were placed. Shockingly, they saw the same, electric blue kinceleran Ben saw the last time was in front of them, seemingly panting from the trip.

"I'm glad… you're safe…" it muttered, falling to the soft grass as it said the final statement. Gwen inched closer to it as it heaved breaths, crouching to its level.

"Who… are you?" she said softly, before a red flash erupted. Gwen cringed as the blast nearly blinded her, yet gasped as she saw the figure that was left of it. Ben's eyes widened as well, sprinting towards it as he looked at it in disbelief.

"Jennifer?"

* * *

1. Yes, alteroids. Just a little name I decided to give Dr. Animo's creations.

This must've been one heckuva update. I noticed that I haven't been updating for a while, since I've been very busy with school and Writer's Block had been getting to me these past few days. I also read that new book, _Twilight_… and for some reason, it got me depressed. Sorry for the long update… once again...

Paite


	9. Chapter Eight: A New Addition

It was unbelievable.

The trio still couldn't believe their eyes as they saw this. As a strong breeze fluttered through the trees of the forest where they were place, they were witness to yet another revealed secret. All of them found it shocking to behold, all had their own theories on how it happened. Yet one thing was for certain: a creature had saved them, and that creature turned out to be…

"Jen?" said Ben softly, moving up to the girl. She had collapsed after her de-transformation, which seemingly rendered her weak. Jennifer opened her eyes to the sound of Ben's voice, slowly regaining consciousness. He looked at her with a little hint of concern on his face, yet as she looked behind him, his grandfather seemed to have an "I-need-an-explanation" look on his. Gwen looked at her worriedly, wondering what was on her grandfather's head.

"How did you…?" Ben continued, helping her up as she gained control. He then quickly changed his statement. "Are you okay?"

She then held her bracelet tightly as if she felt a bit pained, like it began to constrict on her wrist. Max then gasped as he saw it with a familiar symbol, suddenly ganging on her. "Where did you get this?!" he demanded, holding her wrist up high. She cringed slightly.

"Grandpa! You're scaring her!" Gwen cried from afar. He took no notice.

"_Where did you get this?!_" he demanded more harshly. Jennifer began to whimper at this point, a few teardrops rolling down her cheeks.

"Grandpa, stop it!" Ben cried, coming to her defense. Max then released her wrist at that, sighing and holding his forehead. Rubbing his temples shortly, it seemed as if he was starting to calm down.

"Ugh… I'm sorry. I guess I went out of control there." he said, still rubbing his temples. "But we still have to find out where _**that**_ came from. Maybe her aunt knows something." By that time, Gwen began to reassure a sobbing Jen, a bit traumatized by what had just happened.

"I'll call Tetrax after we're finished here. Ben, get the transmitter." Max ordered, and Ben was up and ready.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

"We need to talk."

The brown-haired woman looked at the old man in defeat, after seeing her trembling niece behind Gwen. There was no way she and Jennifer could hide it any more. Sighing, she breathed the first part of her sentence. "Tell me what you want to know."

"Where did Jennifer get **this**?" Max demanded once more, and Ms Cruz's face fell shortly. She led them into their mansion, in which Gwen's eyes widened at the sight.

"If this weren't a depressing enough scene, I'd be gawking." she stated, holding Jen closer to her side. It felt like they were sisters for a moment.

She took them into a grand dining hall with mahogany furniture, lavishly decorated with pearls and other fine jewels. A sparkling diamond chandelier hung above them as they proceeded, dangling suspended on a beam of the high ceiling. The long, oval dining table was covered by a white-laced table cloth, embroidered with the finest embroidery ever known. Beside the table were some shelves of books, good for anyone who wanted to read while eating. But they were not there to read. They were not there to eat, or to take a pleasant visit, either. They were there for more, serious matters.

"Jennifer was in one of our gardens when it happened," she stated, closing her eyes as she told the tale. "It seemed like she found something buried in the dirt while I was watching her, and all of a sudden she ran to me with tears in her eyes. A strange bracelet was attached to her wrist, and we tried every single thing we could to detach it. None of our methods worked."

"So, she did her normal activities with the bracelet as always, yet it always seemed that she was pained to have it on her. I decided to examine it once more… and the next thing I knew, a strange fire-ball person was in her place. I didn't know what to do, until I learned more about it each time she transformed. I even started to study a bit of Astronomy just to find the enigma about it, and decided to put her new abilities to good use."

"That must explain the different alien sightings on the web!" Gwen chimed in all of a sudden, confirming the news. Ms. Cruz nodded sheepishly.

"Well, I travel a lot."

"Do you even know what you have in your hands, ma'am?" Max said more firmly, slightly aghast at the unsupervised use of alien technology. Ms. Cruz looked at him sternly, as if she had something important to say.

"I still don't know what my precious niece has on her wrist, sir, but I assure you… I am fully aware of what it can do. I never tampered with it." Max seemed relieved at this point, resting his chin onto his palm.

"That's… relieving to know. Still, we need to find out what's on her wrist; though I'm pretty sure what it is. We'll have to search its origins."

Jen's aunt began to press her fingers onto her temples; a crestfallen look on her face. "Let me guess… space travel? Please, I don't have time for this nonsense."

"I'm pretty sure what this device could be, yet we still need to make a more thorough research. Please, Carmen… my grandson has one on his wrist as well." Max stated, his voice near pleading. Ms. Cruz started to ponder on this offer, pressing her fingers to her temples more hardly. After a pause, she shot a concerned look at her niece, feeling a twinge of worry on her chest.

"Jen, sweetheart… do you want to go?" she said in a soft voice, her chest aching a little. Jennifer slowly loosened her grip on Gwen's clothes, and looked at everyone individually. She then looked back at her aunt, her brown eyes large with the fear of the unknown. Finally, she closed her eyes and nodded, with her aunt sighing in response.

"Go," she said defeated; a tired expression on her face. The four heroes then began to leave at her command, with Ben straying behind.

"By the way, Ben?" Ms. Cruz said, tapping his shoulder. He turned to face her in confusion.

"Yes ma'am?"

A glint of hope sparkled in her eyes. "Take care of Jen, will you?" He couldn't help but stare at her as she looked at him in supplication, finally nodding.

"Okay."

* * *

"Tetrax will be here any minute now." Max said as they waited at a forest area, where the trees would be able to hide any form of human-alien communication. The three youngsters just lounged around, with Jen isolated from the other two. They suddenly shot their heads at the direction of a large shadow, knowing quite well what it was. Ben plucked a blade of grass from one of the beds, sighing. And it all comes back to this. As the ship landed, the gateway brushed open as a diamond-bodied Petrosapien descended from the UFO.

"What's the emergency?" Tetrax Shard, one of their alien friends, asked. Usually no one called him unless it was an emergency.

"_**That's**_ the emergency." Max replied, pointing at Jennifer. Her eyes widened as she saw the creature, backing away into a tree and covering herself with her hands. Tetrax immediately identified the bracelet, yet he couldn't help but feel pity towards the poor girl.

"Jen, it's okay. Everything's gonna be fine." Gwen said as she rushed to her side, patting her back encouragingly. She still didn't budge.

"I believe we have to leave immediately, then." the Petrosapien stated, resting his eyes on her shivering figure. The poor girl didn't deserve this. "Let's go."

"Jennifer, we have to go." Gwen said in a sisterly fashion, yet Jennifer clung to her once again the moment she stood up. Sighing, she couldn't help but feel like a babysitter at that point. "It's okay, Jen… I'm by your side… well, _you're_ on my side…" she stated, patting her on the back again.

On board the ship, Ben instantly began to roam around it excitedly. Of course, alien was always equivalent to fun in Ben's language, so this was pretty much understood. "I totally missed this place! Where's the hover board simulation room again, Tetrax?" Ben asked enthusiastically, grinning like an idiot. Tetrax chuckled.

"Left of the Western hallway, as usual."

"Thanks!"

And he was off.

Typically Ben.

"I better make sure he doesn't get into any trouble this time." mumbled Gwen as she sat up one of the seats there. Jennifer tugged her back as she prepared to take off, seemingly not willing to be alone yet. "What is it, Jen?" Gwen inquired, yet she just shivered into Gwen's shirt. Her expression softened.

"It'll be alright, Jen… look, I'll just be off for a few minutes and back, okay? Don't worry." Jen looked at her again with her perpetually sad eyes, loosening her grip on her clothes. Gwen smiled.

"I'll be back soon."

As Gwen took off to watch Ben, Tetrax had begun to instruct Gluto, their alien space pilot, about the details of their flight. Afterwards, he turned to face Max once again, a stern expression on his face. "Once we leave the Earth's atmosphere, I'll try to conduct some tests on that bracelet. But you know as well as I do that this thing _may_ be the same thing Ben has."

Max nodded. "I know that, Tetrax… yet we'll have to see what this other thing's capable of. Who knows? It might be more dangerous than it seems. Although, I still can't believe how a young girl like _**her **_was able to wield it."

The petrosapien chuckled slightly. "You have to admit, though… it takes a lot of will to wield alien technology and use it for good. You must remember the first time Ben got it." He looked out into the flaming window shield, closing his eyes. "Believe it or not, Max… the girl seems to have a lot of spirit." He looked at Jennifer again. "A lot of **wounded** spirit. Do you know anything more about her?"

Max sighed. "No. So far, my conversations with her aunt never reached that far. She always avoided the topic."

"Typical." Tetrax concluded, looking out into space again. "Must be something really painful."

"Indeed." he said in agreement, looking out as well.

Meanwhile, Gwen continued to look for her somewhat-on-the-dim side cousin of hers, hoping so much that he didn't do anything stupid. She sighed, knowing that usually on alien trips something **does** happen. During times like those, she liked to question if she really were related to him. Looking around, she made her way into the western hallway, although it was not necessarily an easy trip. It seemed that Tetrax had upgraded the ship recently, adding labyrinth-like twists and turns to each corner. So, once she exited the Western hall, she listened for anything that signaled trouble.

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

**SMASH!** "Yow!"

That was the queue.

Walking into the simulation room, it seemed Ben lost control while practicing; all sprawled on the floor with the hover hoard on top of him. The room seemed to be swirling in electric blue spirals, as if pretending that nothing had happened to him. She sighed once more. Typical, typical Ben.

"Knew that something like this would happen." she gloated, smiling at him mockingly. He pushed the hover board on top of him slowly, and got up to dust his pants.

"Ha ha… gloat all you want." he said in an irritated manner, picking up the hover board. She smirked.

"I will." And for just one nanosecond, her face suddenly changed into one of concern and worry. "Though, it's not just your idiot antics that worry me."

"Whaddya mean?" Ben replied grumpily, dusting his hover board.

She looked at him with clear eyes. "I'm afraid of what they're going to do to Jen." she told him with an air of concern, feeling a sinking feeling in her chest. For some reason, Ben suddenly felt this sinking feeling as well, mulling over the thought in his head. It _was_ pretty worrying, come to think of it. "Maybe we should go check on her, just in case." she continued, looking at the doorway.

"O-kay… just gimme a second… wha—AW!" cried Ben as he slipped on the hover board once more. Gwen shook her head.

"You. Are. So. _Hopeless_."

* * *

"There… it's almost ready." Tetrax mumbled, readying the controls for the experiment. Jennifer shuddered at the sight of the equipment, clasping her hands tighter than usual.

Almost everyone was in the same room now. Max loomed over the technology in intimidating authority, as if the alien contraption/device/gadget was his own creation. Ben was sitting next to the girl, with him watching the alien contraption/device/gadget being tweaked and Gwen chatting happily with Gluto. Their conversations seemed to be more spontaneous after learning that the jell-o like alien could talk. A soft whimper came from Jen's lips as she continued watching it being prepared, yet it was loud enough to catch the ears of the person nearest to her.

Ben looked at her as he leaned on the wall, the whimper catching his attention. She shuddered violently for some reason, and the sinking feeling in his chest returned in a flash.

"She looks… scared." he muttered unconsciously, observing her. Thinking back, he realized how weird things have gone ever since they met her… the sightings, the monsters; how everything seemed to become out of the repetitive line of the daily. He knew far well that this wasn't the first, long ago… yet, this was different. The girl brought up something new, something unusual… definitely more than the peculiarity his life offered. No, it was something else… although it couldn't be pointed out.

"Hey, you okay?" he spoke softly, knowing that she wouldn't answer. It was still curious, though… how she resembled him very closely, down to the slightest detail. Another whimper came from her mouth, and he looked at her with clear eyes. In a nanosecond, an idea flashed into his mind like lightning, along with some words that were told to him just a few hours ago:

"_Take care of Jen, will you?"_

Another whimper erupted from the young girl's lips, accompanied by water rolling down her cheeks. She brought her feet up onto the bench to hide her face into her knees as she continued to cry, the cloth of her dress muffling her sobs. A soft, thumping pressure was then laid on her back, and was switched to one of rubbing at some intervals. The boy patted her back reassuringly, trying his best to fulfill his promise.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay…" he said softly, albeit surprised that he could murmur that soft. "It's just gonna look at your bracelet. No biggie." The girl continued to sob, much to his dismay… yet it seemed to deteriorate in intensity. The cries became gentler, although his brain turned blank at what else to say. He couldn't leave her crying there, of course.

_Take care of Jen, take care of Jen, take care of Jen…_her aunt's words kept repeating themselves as he still probed his brain for ideas. Jen still fastened her arms against her knees, sobbing gently yet in sorrow. The memory of his first trip to space popped into his head as he thought, repeating all of its vividness, its emotions… breaking into a galactic jail, driving an alien pod, locating Azmuth, fighting Sixsix…

Thinking how he almost lost his cousin.

_I'm a hero;_ he thought suddenly, a revelation that revealed itself to him after the memory. He then looked at her briefly, reinstating within himself his mission in thought. Moving closer to her, he rested his palm on her shoulder in a sign of reassurance. "It's okay," he repeated more softly "I'll just be by your side." he continued, with Jennifer looking at him in puzzlement. Tears that were supposed to come out just stayed where they were; their movement halted.

"I won't leave when you're scared," he continued, like a child reciting a lesson "I'll even hold your hand if you need me." he stated, raising his hand up to her. _It's a hero's job to protect others_, he told himself, remembering that little incident. He would never let anyone get hurt again.

Looking down at his palm, Jennifer looked back up at him and back, finally grasping his hand within hers. He smiled softly as she did with her looking down at their hands; and after a short while, mustering a tiny smile in the process. Another whirring sound came for the alien machine, and Tetrax appeared after shortly going within the technology; a grave look on his face. "It's done," he said firmly, brushing his palms against each other. "Let's go." he continued, looking at Jen to signal her.

"I'll be right here," Ben stated, still holding her hand in his. She looked at him and understood, nodding nervously in his direction. Escorting her to the device, he negotiated a bit with Tetrax; getting permission to do so. "Just make sure the Omnitrix isn't it contact with the machinery, "Tetrax warned, "Otherwise, we won't be able to do our operations accurately." He agreed, and Jennifer lay down reluctantly on the bed-like surface.

"I'll just be here," Ben said as she was covered by the device, still holding her hand with his right hand. In a few minutes, a flash of data began to engulf her, with complex blueprints laid above her. She stared at it in amazement as she laid, not noticing Ben's hand releasing hers slowly. After some time, the operation stopped and the machine was lifted; with all on board looking at her with eager eyes.

"Did you get the information?" Max asked tentatively, with Tetrax nodding in what seemed a baffled way.

"It was just as I thought. Yet, there are some molecular patterns that I couldn't quite get; those which are very different from Ben's…" he trailed off, regaining his speech as he continued to analyze it. "Maybe we'll get more answers from Azmuth. His DNA can be found on the device."

"So I guess it's time to pay a little visit to our old friend," Gwen said as she temporarily halted her talk with Gluto. Max nodded.

"Yes," he said firmly. "To Azmuth."

* * *

"At least this time he didn't leave a trail of Wildvine this time," Gwen muttered, removing an abhorred substance from her cheek. The trip to Azmuth's new hideout was definitely unpleasant.

The troupe had found themselves at the front of a mechanical doorway after some unpleasant encounters with some hidden booby traps, alien pits of doom and other unmentionable things. The round door seemed very intricate in its own design, covered by millions of wires and advanced circuitry. Once more Jennifer reached out to Ben's hand for security, and Tetrax began to near the door. A small device at the side of the door began to reveal itself, with a red zap of energy engulfing the Petrosapien.

"What is your business here?" came a mechanical voice, with the device blinking.

"This," said Tetrax, pulling up Jen's free hand towards the machine. Identifying the device, the beam stopped and temporarily flashed green with a beep; then stopping with a whirr. The group looked on anxiously. After some moments of silence, Tetrax bowed his head.

"Well, we tried." he said, holding the door in dismay. Incredulously, the door whirred again and opened, leading to a high-tech laboratory where a little Galvan worked. Azmuth looked at them impatiently as he melded some unidentified substance together, then looked back at his experiment.

"Well? What are you waiting for; the explosion of the Milky Way?!" he yelled out to them, with the group shortly complying.

After a few discussions with an otherwise cranky Galvan, they sat down on metal benches with cold metal on their backs. Jennifer secured her grip on Ben's hand in her fear, with him not seeming to care that she was squeezing all circulation in his hand. Max was standing up behind Gwen as he waited for an explanation, with Gwen looking at her grandpa anxiously.

"Polytron," Azmuth explained, looking disapprovingly at the little bracelet around Jennifer's wrist. "an old prototype of the Omnitrix. One of my first working models."

"There goes the old grouch again," Myaxx came in shortly, a lab coat around her body. The group was alarmed at her presence, yet her disgruntled expression showed her indifference as they did. "Talking about one of his old prototypes. Keeps on yapping about it, I should say." Dismissing Myaxx, the Galvan looked back at the group with a groan.

"Anyway, this was supposed to be out of existence right now." he continued, examining it profusely. "Years ago, I tried destroying this contraption after making the Omnitrix. Should've been careful about where this was landing! Now it's still fully functional _and_ in the hands of a mere child." Azmuth muttered, groaning at his own failure.

"Can't you take the device off?" Max asked, moving forward to face Azmuth. The Galvan shook his head.

"It'll take _years_… and not just ordinary Earth years. When I first started the project I was foolish enough to strengthen the binding mechanism."

"Fool is an understatement," Myaxx muttered, with Azmuth retorting with an "I heard that!", afterwards tinkering with the device once more. "Worse, I put all _female_ species in the Polytron… thought they were easy to catch. Turns out they were twice as ferocious as their male counterparts."

"At least you know now," Myaxx mocked once again, waiting for Azmuth's signal to get out of the laboratory. She then left with a contented smirk on her lips, happy to know that she got on her so-called "master's" nerves. The Galvan then dropped the arm, looking at the group. Max seemed paler than usual.

"Well, all that is done. You may leave my laboratory now." Azmuth stated nonchalantly, returning to his experiment.

"You absolutely can't find another way?" Tetrax spoke briefly, hoping not to be fruitless from their conversation. The Galvan looked once more at the group for a long while, finally sighing as he looked back at the substances on his apparatus.

"There may be… but it'll take a little more research. Come back in a few months and I may have the solution."

"Thank you." Max muttered, holding his granddaughter on the shoulder. The mechanical door then shut open, leaving the group towards their perilous journey back to the ship.

The ship seemed quiet as Gluto steered them back to Earth. Neither one of them spoke a word, and Jennifer just looked outwards into space; bereft of any expression. The two cousins simultaneously looked at her then at each other, thoughts in their mind like a whirring gear. Their looks then challenged one another to say the first word, ending with Ben succumbing to the piercing pressure of the pause.

"So, what's gonna happen to Jennifer?" he asked innocently, looking hesitantly at his grandfather. Max then sighed, looking upwards towards the ceiling.

"Well, we just can't leave her with something as powerful as that stuck on her wrist. I guess we'll just have to take her along for supervision." The cousins' eyes widened at the proposal, excitement starting to enter them.

"Really? We're taking Jennifer?" Gwen said excitedly, with Max nodding in reply. "We have no choice." He continued, and the twins smiled at each other cheerfully. The quiet was then shattered by boisterous speech, each proposing one thing or another about the new team-up, each talking about plans for the future. Max then led out a weak smile as he watched the scene in progression, with Tetrax following suit as he did so. Finally, as the noise died down, they all looked at Jennifer, who was at the time looking at them in a curious way. Succumbing to the acceptance of the circumstance, Max then proclaimed:

"Kids, meet our **new addition**."

* * *

Dang, I finally finished it! Sorry for the ultra-slow update… this is the part which pretty much consumed most of my writing time. Well, the adventures begin! Please leave a comment if there are any clarifications about the story! Also, I'd want to thank those who were patient enough to wait through for each update. Your patience is truly appreciated.

Thank you!

-Paite


End file.
